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This is my first time posting in the soccer forum. It is actually the first time I have posted in any forum in quite some time but I used to mainly post in the boxing card forum under this name and another one previous to that. Clearly I like to collect outside of the mainstream (boxing/soccer). I have mainly been collecting aoccer recently because it is the best part of the hobby to find those hidden gems that make collecting worthwhile. Well, I have an auction on eBay that is finishing up on Wednesday at 8 PM ET and it is one of those gems...

I am auctioning off a 1978 Crack Campeonato Mundial unopened pack from Argentina. This pack could potentially have one of the 2 Maradona rookie cards that are in this set (or both could be in there). One of the reasons this pack is so special is that it is Argentinian Crack pack, which is the only version of the Crack packs that could potentially have the Maradona rookies in it. The Argentinians were the only ones that added a card for Maradona when he was added to the 1978 World Cup team. If you look at any of the other 1978 Crack albums none of them include Maradona, except the Argentinian Crack album and this unopened pack is where you pull the cards for that album. I dont need to tell you how much a mint 1978 Crack Maradona would sell for, since the mid grade copies sell for $1,000+. I highly doubt there are any Brazilian 1958 Quigol or Titulares unopened packs still in exisrence, so this pack may be the most valuable unopened vintage soccer pack in the world (which could mean its only worth $50 hahaha but I am letting you guys decide since I started the auction at $1). There is also the chance to get the caricature Maradona rookie, which is almost never seen and even more rarely sold, so who knows what that coupd be worth if it were found in mint condition?

Alright, I think I have done enough selling of this extremely rare unopened pack. Lets see if any of you are as excited about it as I was when I found it. The link ia below. Dont hesitate to ask me any questions.

Does anyone else have any rare unopened packs in their collections? I have been really interested in rare unopened packs recently. Clearly the value of soccer packs hasnt reached the value of mainstream sports packs in relation to the value of the highest value card/cards in the pack. With mainstream unopened sports pack they sell for between 25-50% of the value of a mid grade copy of the highest value rookie/card that is potentially in the pack. Clearly soccer packs have not reached that point and could be good investments in the future (if the packs ever get valued more closely to the value of the best cards from that set).

Point number 1 I fully agree with you. I contacted PSA who said that I could send it in but they doubted they would be able to authenticate it since they had never seen one and had nothing to go off of to authenticate it.
That proces also would have taken 3-4 months and probably resulted in the dreaded N9. I do have a couple more of the 1978 Crack packs that I might send to PWCC or Probstein to give the pack a little more legitimacy or send one in to PSA and see if they will grade it.

As to your point number 2 I would argue it is his rookie card. Can a disc really be considered a rookie card? I am sure there are some people that absolutely do think it is his rookie, like yourself, and there are some that think a rookie card has to be a basic card, not a disc, like myself. If you look at what the 1977 disc and the 1978 Crack rookie sell for in similar grades they are right on par with each other, so it does show that the collectors are torn on what is his true rookie. I will never consider a disc a rookie, just like I would never consider a cut out picture that was never meant to be cut out as a rookie (looking at you 1960 Hemmets Journal Cassius Clay) but please dont get me started down the Muhammad Ali rookie debate road because it really gets me annoyed that anyone could consider the Hemmets Journal a card. I actually wrote a long post on what is Muhammad Alis rookie card in the boxing forum a few years ago, breaking down the multiple options different people conaider his rookie and why. I do respect your opinion that the 1977 Maradona disc is a rookie but that doesnt mean that everyone sees it that way.

I also have the 1978 Argentina Campeon Libro de Estampas which is a really cool card (its about twice the size of a normal postage stamp but on card stock) amd I consider that a rookie of his too and based off of what I have seen it may be his rarest rookie. The PSA pop report and lack of auction sales back up the rarity of the card. If I could ever figure out how to post a picture on this website I would post a picture of it.

Point number 1 I fully agree with you. I contacted PSA who said that I could send it in but they doubted they would be able to authenticate it since they had never seen one and had nothing to go off of to authenticate it.
That proces also would have taken 3-4 months and probably resulted in the dreaded N9. I do have a couple more of the 1978 Crack packs that I might send to PWCC or Probstein to give the pack a little more legitimacy or send one in to PSA and see if they will grade it.

As to your point number 2 I would argue it is his rookie card. Can a disc really be considered a rookie card? I am sure there are some people that absolutely do think it is his rookie, like yourself, and there are some that think a rookie card has to be a basic card, not a disc, like myself. If you look at what the 1977 disc and the 1978 Crack rookie sell for in similar grades they are right on par with each other, so it does show that the collectors are torn on what is his true rookie. I will never consider a disc a rookie, just like I would never consider a cut out picture that was never meant to be cut out as a rookie (looking at you 1960 Hemmets Journal Cassius Clay) but please dont get me started down the Muhammad Ali rookie debate road because it really gets me annoyed that anyone could consider the Hemmets Journal a card. I actually wrote a long post on what is Muhammad Alis rookie card in the boxing forum a few years ago, breaking down the multiple options different people conaider his rookie and why. I do respect your opinion that the 1977 Maradona disc is a rookie but that doesnt mean that everyone sees it that way.

Hey, welcome to this (sub) forum.

I think any Maradona issue prior to 1980 can be considered a RC. A lot of futbol cards were issued in non-traditional formats (discs, stickers, stamps) so sticking to traditional “cards” would exclude a lot of items and I personally see no reason to do that.

Previously, the 1979 Panini Sticker was considered his “true” RC, then the 1978 Campeanato, and now the 1977 Futbol. Lately, the 1977 Futbol has been selling for the most and I expect that trend to continue.

Aesthetically, I like the 1977 best but I wouldn’t fault anyone for preferring any other 70’s issue and/or considering it a RC for various reasons (like distribution). Maradona also has a few other cards from the late 70’s that depict him with Argentinos Juniors and maybe those will end up gaining traction. The soccer card market is still in its infancy.

I asked this same question on here a while back and the market voted "yes." Like Anish said, if we want to collect outside of the big four sports, then we have to go after the other stuff, such as stickers, discs, stamps, and those tiny paper-thin Brazilian figurinhas.

__________________Always looking to buy or trade for vintage hockey, soccer, boxing and non-sports.

I would add that more than half of all Argentine cards issued from the 1940's to 1970's are in disc format and all of them are issued on cardboard... most of the rectangular "cards" are on thin paper stock which is typical less attractive to "card" collectors.